Area barbecue joints ranked among tops in Texas
In terms of barbecue, Houston no longer plays second fiddle to Austin.
In Texas Monthly’s muchanticipated list of “The 50 Best BBQ Joints” in Texas, released Monday, Houston-area pitmasters scored an impressive seven spots in the Top 50, including two in the Top 10 — tying with Austin.
Tejas Chocolate Craftory, in Tomball, ranked No. 6. And CorkScrew BBQ, in Spring, ranked No. 7.
Also placing in the Top 50: Killen’s Barbecue, in Pearl-
and; plus Gatlin’s BBQ, Pinkerton’s Barbecue, The Pit Room, and Roegels Barbecue Co., all in the Houston city limits.
“I think Houston barbecue is really on the rise,” said Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor. “It’s exciting to see the places that are doing their own style, not strictly Austin style.”
Houston, he says, is known for its pitmasters’ creativity, their willingness to take Texas barbecue to new places — such as the barbecue-style pastrami smoked at both Tejas and Roegels.
The Houston-area nominees largely reflect the rise of “craft barbecue”: urban, more expensive and Instagram-ready. The focus is on premium-quality meat — including pork and chicken, once sacrilege in Texas barbecue. Side dishes are frequently notable, and cocktails even appear on some menus.
Four of the seven Houston-area barbecue joints on the 2017 have opened in the past four years, and thus, are new to the list, which Texas Monthly last published in 2013.
Though the state has always appreciated smoked meats, the past decade has seen a steady surge of interest in Texas barbecue, both inside the state and out. “Its status is strong worldwide, with places continuing to open up across the world emphasizing Texas-style barbecue and trying to replicate our brisket,” Vaughn said.
Houston barbecue owners at the top of the list were overjoyed Monday morning.
“I don’t know what to say. Never imagined we’d make it that quickly. Very thankful,” said Scott Moore Jr., who opened Tejas Chocolate Craftory with his brother Greg Moore in October 2015. (Their business, which began as a bean-to-bar chocolate confectioner, is almost certainly the only top barbecue restaurant in the state to offer houseroasted cacao truffles.)
“I remember reading the 2008 Top 50 list cover to cover,” said Will Buckman, who owns and operates CorkScrew with his wife, Nichole. “This was even before we were cooking any barbecue. I thought it would be cool to be on this list. (Making the list in) 2013 was amazing. This is even better.”
The magazine’s No. 1 pick, Snow’s, is in tiny Lexington (population 1,200) and is open only on Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. or until the meat runs out. Overseen by barbecue legend Tootsie Tomanetz, 82, this is its second time at the top of the list.
Franklin Barbecue, the No. 2 pick, is overseen by Aaron Franklin, 39, author of a best-selling cookbook and winner of the 2015 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southwest. “The award shows that Texasstyle smoked meats can attain the highest quality,” said Texas Monthly food editor Patricia Sharpe. “Franklin is not just a pitmaster; he’s a chef.”
Vaughn said that one of the great joys of compiling the list is the inclusion of previously unheralded barbecue joints in small towns in Texas — and possibly giving an enormous boost to those small operators. “In barbecue, the profit margin isn’t high,” he said. “The more people you get in the door, the better chance some of these places will stay open.”
He cited Flores Barbecue in the small town of Whitney, south of Fort Worth as an example. “Not a lot of people are driving through Whitney,” he said. Now that the list is out, barbecue enthusiasts will make it a point to visit.
Houston Chronicle barbecue columnist J.C. Reid contributed to this report.